by eagle, » Sat Nov 03, 2018 4:03 pm
as dawn began to break over the grieving clan, cyanslash managed to unwind himself from falconflight and he padded across the clearing to where redstar sat with his head held high, as if he could still see the stars above. for a moment, cyanslash waited for his leader to say anything, though he finally cleared his throat and spoke, and redstar finally turned his broad head to face him. "tumblejaw," cyanslash murmured, glancing back to the heart of the camp's lower level, where majority of the clan was gathered. falconflight was exactly where cyanslash left him, his head bowed, and tumblejaw remained hunched over ivystripe's cool body. "shall i organize patrols, boss?" he offered, though the words burned in his throat. already he didn't think that it would be possible for the clan to move on without ivystripe. or, rather, that they would be able to move forward in the same way. from the beginning, quickclan had remained relatively peaceful, and had never suffered a tragedy such as this. had the circumstances been different, ivystripe would have acted as a backbone to keep the clan going, but now she was dead.
redstar blinked, as if he hadn't realized that the night had given way to dawn, and he nodded once. "yes, thank you," he answered, only to turn his eyes back to the sky. cyanslash hesitated for a moment, though when he dipped his head to the gathered clan, redstar spoke softly once again, though he didn't look directly at his friend, "what happened to the kits?"
cyanslash cleared his throat carefully, his tail tip flicking anxiously. "sweetecho and piperskip saved them. they said that they all seem healthy. the queens took them into the nursery." redstar hummed, and cyanslash waited for any other comment, but finally back away when redstar fell silent.
after sending several of the warriors out to hunt and patrol the borders, cyanslash paused at his own mate. falconflight hadn't moved from when he left to talk to redstar, and cyanslash lingered to press his nose into his mate's golden fur. "you know what she would say if she saw you standing here like a rock," he murmured gently when he felt falconflight lean into the touch.
"yeah," falconflight whispered after a prolonged moment of silence. "she would ask if i had stones instead of paws, and then would say that she wanted to eat another muscly rabbit we caught for her." a quiet huff escaped his chest, and cyanslash knew that it was meant to be laughter. silence fell between them, and cyanslash couldn't help but look to where ivystripe's body remained stretched out. she would be taken to be buried shortly, before sunrise, though he wondered if tumblejaw would allow any of the other warriors to touch her body. he knew that the deputy and medicine cat had been close friends, and he saw them together often enough, but he couldn't shake the feeling that tumblejaw looked as if he had died within his own right. his eyes appeared hollow, not filled with vivacity as they often were. if he didn't know better, he would have said that tumblejaw looked defeated, beyond that of losing a mere friend.
without lingering on it any further, cyanslash stood and nosed falconflight to his paws. "c'mon, let's go check on the queens and twitekit. leave him to grieve for a little longer," he urged, and together he and falconflight began the short climb to the nursery.
inside the nursery, sweetecho looked fondly at the trio of kits that were tucked against piperskip's belly. the dark queen sent her kits to play in the back of the nursery with the rest of the older kits, and the queens fell into a hushed silence among themselves. sunnywhisker sat back with mothtail in the darker shadows of the nursery. mothtail took to grooming sunnywhisker's pelt, as the latter had been nearly unresponsive when she discovered what happened to ivystripe. mothtail, who knew the deceased medicine cat the least, gave up her attempts to speak quietly to the other queen, to try and coax her to eating a small mouse, and stuck to her own silence.
surprisingly, it was aspenwish who spoke. the black and white queen was normally quiet - kind, but calm and soft-spoken. "they're beautiful kits," she murmured softly, and the rest of them nodded their agreement. "i think they deserve proper names."
lately, the nursery felt cramped. the kits were growing too big and there were more than enough queens to take up space, with more kits on the way. however, in the moment, sweetecho felt that there was a large empty space, enough to swallow them all, with the knowledge that there was a queen missing, and the three kits were mother-less. more often than not, cyanslash and falconflight took the kits out to play games, to give the rest of them some rest, and twitekit was expected to be given a mentor any day now. but ivystripe would never be there to play games with her own kits, or to watch them be given their first names, let alone apprentice names.
sweetecho shifted slightly and nodded to the single molly of the litter. "what do you think of marshkit?" she asked. as if in response, the small kit nestled closer to piperskip's soft fur, and the dark queen ducked her head to nose at the kit.
"i think she likes the name," piperskip concluded with a gentle smile that sweetecho had only seen when the queen looked at her own kits.
before any of the queens could comment further, cyanslash appeared at the entrance to the cave, with falconflight following him inside. sunnywhisker murmured her greeting and tipped her head further back into the tunnel. "twitekit is in the back with the other kits," she said, and falconflight smiled gently at her, though it was clear that the tom wasn't in a good mood, based on the way his paws dragged against the cool bare stone.
whereas falconflight went to find the kits, cyanslash paused to touch his nose against sunnywhisker's, aspenwish's, and sweetecho's in turn, offering gentle smiles to the other queens as well. "is there anything you need? we'll be taking a hunting patrol out in a little bit, and i can ask gorsepaw if he can go through the herbs if you need some," he offered, looking to piperskip as he spoke. the dark molly shook her head and wrapped her tail tighter around the newborn kits at her belly.
"we'll just need food, but brightpaw has done well at seeing to that," piperskip said, managing a tight smile.
sweetecho looked between piperskip and cyanslash, and she cleared her throat gently. "if you and falconflight could take the kits into the camp later to play, i'm sure we'd all appreciate it. they're getting too big, not just twitekit," she said, and could see piperskip smiling out of the corner of her eye. oriolekit and dustkit were already twitekit's size, and she seemed proud to think of how they would turn out as warriors, though they had moons before they would leave the nursery.
without hesitation, cyanslash dipped his head to sweetecho, who blinked gratefully at him. as it was, sweetecho found herself more tired than normal, as her belly seemed to grow each passing day. she supposed that it was likely one of the reasons redstar was adamant about getting a new medicine cat, despite the fresh wound of ivystripe. it would take seasons, she suspected, for many of them to move on from ivystripe's sudden death, but redstar was concerned for the future, as he always had been. it made sense that she would be on the top of his list of concerns. his medicine cat just died giving birth, and sweetecho and mothtail had kits coming on the way.
after cyanslash promised that he would occupy the kits after his patrol, aspenwish picked her head up and looked to cyanslash, her whiskers twitching. "any gossip going around the clan lately, cyanslash?" she asked, and it was clear that the tom caught on to the queen's attempt to lighten the mood of the nursery.
sweetecho blinked gently at the young warrior and beckoned him over to sit with her when she caught a glint of his usual mischief in his eyes.
"a few of the warriors are taking bets on who will be the next molly to join the nursery," he said, stretching out beside sweetecho. at the same moment, falconflight and twitekit came back to join the group.
when piperskip, aspenwish, and sunnywhisker looked expectantly at the golden warrior, falconflight chucked softly, clearly in a slightly better mood than normal. "fear not, flintkit found a feathe tangled in sproutkit's fur. after they got it out, they started a war over the feather," he explained, and the queens purred gently and relaxed once more. falconflight wasted no time in curling alongside cyanslash, and twitekit wedged herself between their shoulders.
"keep going, cyanslash," mothtail urged, and cyanslash nodded quickly.
"of course, of course," he allowed, pausing only to lick twitekit between the ears, who proceeded to whine until falconflight shushed her. "my current theory is that poppyhaze and sparrowcall are finally planning on having kits," cyanslash continued when he was sure that he held all of the queens' attention.
"poppyhaze?" piperskip sniffed haughtily, flicking her tailtip. "just the other day i heard her saying to sparrowcall that the kits were too destructive for her taste. as if dustkit and oriolekit had offended her by venturing out of the nursery." piperskip huffed, returning her attention to grooming ivystripe's kits, though her ears remained perked and alert.
"maybe she thinks that her kits will be perfect. they'll never stick their noses into trouble like some kits," falconflight interjected, his gaze straying to twitekit. in retaliation, twitekit hissed playfully until falconflight cuffed her ear. "go make sure the other kits are safe," he said, nudging her with his nose. with a final playful hiss, twitekit rose and scampered back the way she came.
"who else?" sweetecho asked, and cyanslash grinned at her, as if they shared a secret.
as cyanslash opened his mouth, falconflight rolled his eyes and lowered his chin to rest on his outstretched paws. "rule number one with cyanslash, don't ask him to gossip or he'll talk your ear off," falconflight yawned, though his tone remained fond.
cyanslash didn't acknowledge the interruption, though he paused for dramatic effect. "well, a few of us have noticed that snakespots and nightfall have been hanging around here," he said, his eyes darting over the gathered queens.
while aspenwish had enough dignity to at least look sheepish and duck her head, piperskip rolled her eyes. "don't you have a hunting patrol, cyanslash? tumblejaw will be here soon to tell you to stop gossiping with us," she cut in defensively.
cyanslash and falconflight rose to their paws together when sweetecho sent piperskip a sharp look that had the other queen returning to grooming the three kits, and the pair of toms dipped their heads. "of course," falconflight said after a long moment. after saying goodbye and saying that they'd be back later to play with the kits, they padded out of the nursery.
after a long moment of silence, mothtail dared to look at sweetecho. "what was that about?" she asked.
instead, it was piperskip who answered in a soft voice, "tumblejaw was ivystripe's mate." this time she wasn't silenced by sweetecho's glance. "and we're the only ones who know, other than ivystripe and tumblejaw. and ivystripe's dead." at her stomach, one of the tom kits mewled, and she coaxed him back to sleep with a gentle lap of her tongue.
several days had passed before redstar took the time to go to the moonpool. night had fallen by the time he padded into the mystical cavern, though he took his time to pick his way to the water's edge. the hole in the cavern's roof provided a clear sight of the stars overhead, and he looked to them when he sat down beside the moonpool. his low voice echoed through the cavern, "ivystripe, the clan misses you. i miss you..." he trailed off and looked to the water. "please help me."
with that, redstar settled down and touched his nose to the water until his dreams took him. the sensations were familiar, and when he blinked his eyes open again, sure enough, he was greeted by a familiar tabby shape. "redstar," ivystripe greeted warmly and stepped forward to touch their noses together. "don't look so surprised to see me. you asked, so here i am." her purr was soft and held the familiar edge of humor he found himself missing in the camp.
"i just - i was worried that you wouldn't be here." in starclan, ivystripe's pelt was unmarred and looked soft. needing the comfort of his friend, redstar leaned down to rest his nose on her shoulder. in death, she was still warm, and he could feel her chest vibrate when she laughed.
"oh, redstar," she coaxed, licking his shoulder in turn. "no, starclan decided to forgive my mistake. they say i suffered enough, and that i can be allowed to watch over my kits."
before redstar could process the words, a question came unchecked from his mouth, "who's the father?" he asked, only to clamp his mouth shut when ivystripe stepped back from him, all of the humor suddenly gone from her eyes. he could tell she was going to reject answering, so he dared to push through the sudden crackle of tension between them. "wouldn't you want them to know their father?"
the former medicine cat's eyes flashed. "of course i want that, redstar, but i died keeping this a secret. isn't that enough? he can tell the clan himself."
the rawness in her voice made redstar pause before he ultimately dipped his head in respect. "of course, ivystripe. we just all miss you. i miss you."
"i miss you too. i miss everyone..." she trailed off for a moment, and a sad smile rested over her features. "i miss the way tumblejaw would always come by my den, at least once a day. i miss the way cyanslash, splashfall, nightfall, and falconflight would come running back from hunting as if they hadn't just run across the moor."
redstar laughed softly and nodded. "did you know that gorsepaw wanted to be your apprentice?"
ivystripe smiled fondly and nodded once. "i had a feeling. i heard blizzardrush telling snakespots and duskflower that gorsepaw had no interest in fighting, and i considered going to him about it." ivystripe paused then, and she took the time to sit down and wrap her tail neatly around herself. "in any case, he'll need a mentor, and quickclan needs a medicine cat." the words came out softly, and redstar caught the underlying sadness in her voice. it was clear that she was sorry to have left the clan, though it was beyond her control. "luckily for you, redstar, i've picked out just the cat, and she'll be meeting you very soon."
redstar's ears pricked with curiosity. "who are they?" he asked.
"she's from beyond the barn, comes from twolegs, but she knows about herbs and will be a good mentor for gorsepaw," ivystripe said of her replacement. "she seems a little stuffy, but i'm sure she'll warm up soon enough. have her talk to sweetecho, it's impossible to not like your mate," ivystripe added, and redstar couldn't help but smile.
"she misses you, you know. i know you didn't know each other well, but she wishes she could have done more..." redstar looked down to his paws. to his surprise, ivystripe smiled back at him with a brief nod.
"i know, but she did everything she could. her and piperskip - i'm grateful. but i paid the price for what i did." ivystripe stood suddenly, and redstar noticed that the sky was beginning to lighten up. without waiting for him, ivystripe pressed her nose against redstar's again, and she spoke quickly, "fear not, redstar. your new medicine cat will be there when you wake up, and we'll be watching over you. look after my kits, please."
redstar opened his mouth to answer, but spluttered when he found his nose dipping under the surface of the moonpool. across the water, a black and white molly looked at him from where she was stretched out and grooming her fur.
"i take it you're redstar?" she asked, and redstar nodded while taking in her form. it was clear that she wasn't a wild cat. her fur appeared soft, unmarred, and her paws looked delicate and unlike most of the warriors', who spent their time running the moor and hunting. still, her eyes held a distant light that reminded him of ivystripe, and he felt inclined to trust his clan with her.
"i am, who are you?" he asked.
as he stood and shook out his fur, she followed suit and turned towards the entrance of the cavern. "my twolegs called me play-doh. however, starclan said that you would give me a new name when i met you."
as they walked back towards the camp, redstar decided that her name would be gullfeather.
days later, it was nearing the dead of night when sunnywhisker managed to coax her kits to sleep. around the rest of the nursery, snores came from kits and queens alike. twitekit took her own nest nearby a moon earlier, and sproutit didn't lie far away, and the pair snored in tandem. soft puffs of air came from where aspenwish was sleeping with her own sons snuggled close to her belly, and piperskip's kits spilled out of the nest to leave room for ivystripe's trio of kits. though the queens now knew the father, sunnywhisker couldn't help but see tumblejaw in both of the toms, particularly the elder, who had the same white patch of fur on his chest. of course, sunnywhisker wondered how sweetecho and piperskip came to know the truth before the rest of them, and she felt her tail twitch in annoyance that the deputy hadn't come to see them. though rumor had it that, since ivystripe's death, tumblejaw hadn't been seen out of his nest often, and redstar passed his deputies to cyanslash for the time being, who handled organizing the patrols.
after sweetecho named the molly marshkit, cyanslash and falconflight suggested the name darterkit for the younger tom, though the older one renamed without a name that stuck. if sunnywhisker had a say in it, she would suggest that the father himself come to visit them and name his eldest kit. though they all seemed to hold their breath on the matter.
which was why she was surprised when the sound of pawsteps outside the nursery brought the deputy's familiar scent on the air, and she glanced up in time to see his green eyes flash in the moonlight and his broad shoulders cast a shadow.
sweetechl, who fell asleep closest to the entrance, shifted and lifted her head, woken by the intrusion. "tumblejaw?" she questioned with a voice thick from sleep, and the tom nodded once.
sweetecho's voice woke the other queens, who had a various array of expressions. sweetecho appeared piteous, mothtail sympathetic, and piperskip looked as if she had been personally scandalized. "what do you want?" she asked when he made no move further into the nursery.
"i came to see them... may i ?" cyanslash and nightfall had both said that tumblejaw hadn't spoken, eaten, or moved much since ivystripe had been buried, and sunnywhisker felt that the rumors were confirmed. where the deputy once was an imposing figure with glossy fur, a sturdy figure, and a strong voice, tumblejaw's fur appeared matted and ungroomed, and his voice scratched against his throat from not being used.
despite this, piperskip bristled slightly when he stepped to her and leaned down to sniff his kits. in their moons of living in the nursery together, sunnywhisker only saw piperskip care about her own kits. now, however, it seemed that her protection extended to the kits who she was granted care over. "why haven't you come before?" she asked, and tumblejaw recoiled as if she struck him.
"i couldn't - i didn't want -"
"didn't want anyone to know that they're yours?" piperskip interrupted, and tumblejaw ducked his head at the accusation. she huffed but shifted her tail to give him access to the three sleeping kits. "figures."
tumblejaw sat back on his hunches and stared at the three in awe. in her sleep, marshkit batted her paw and hit darterkit, who kicked his brother in turn. "what are their names?" tumblejaw asked, and piperskip's eyes seemed to softly slightly.
"the molly is marshkit, the little tom is darterkit, and we haven't decided on a name for the other tom," she said, and tumblejaw nodded slowly.
"maybe you should give him a name," sunnywhisker broke in, and sproutkit shifted nearby. "you are their father, after all."
tumblejaw appeared surprised and looked at the other queens, who offered no other words. he shifted, suddenly uncomfortable, and nodded once. "hollowkit," he said, meeting piperskip's piercing gaze. "his name is hollowkit, because my heart feels empty without ivystripe."
as he must have expected, piperskip hissed lowly at him and thrust her head in the direction of the entrance. "you need to leave before you wake them." her words were cold, and tumblejaw didn't fight her, only dipped her head to them and padded out.
several minutes passed in silence, wherein sweetecho and piperskip whispered rapidly between each other until sunnywhisker couldn't follow. when she was sure that they all fell back into sleep, she rose carefully to her paws, her limbs moving faster than her brain. she stopped several steps outside of the nursery, when she noticed tumblejaw sitting in the middle of the lower camp, his eyes searching the night sky.
the next thing sunnywhisker knew, she was sitting down next to the deputy, who shot her a sideways glance. "did piperskip send you?" he asked, and sunnywhisker shook her head quickly, earning a sigh. "they're cute and all, but they look so much like her. i want to tell the clan, because nothing that redstar can do is worse than what has already happened, but... i'm scared, sunnywhisker."
for a moment, sunnywhisker knew that he was looking for her to give him advice, to pass on some wisdom that she might have. but she didn't think she had any to spare. "i don't think she would want you to hurt like this," she said, fully aware that it sounded flat and weak.
still, tumblejaw managed a smile, and sunnywhisker felt her heart melt for him. this poor tom who had only tried to find love that ended in tragedy. without realizing it, sunnywhisker leaned in closer to him until her head fell to his shoulder. for a moment, she felt his muscles tense under her contact, though he relaxed only a heartbeat later. "thank you, sunnywhisker," he murmured, and they remained like that for what felt like an eternity to sunnywhisker.
gorsepaw blinked when he emerged from the medicine cats' den, his eyes having to adjust quickly to the sunlight. outside, the chatter of his clanmates filled the air, and he feared that he was the last cat to wake up and join the activity of the day. the previous night, gullfeather told him to rest after a long day of helping her sort herbs. from what he could see of the new medicine cat, she was far more quiet than ivystripe had been - with an ache, he recalled his first moons with the clan in ivystripe's den - but she was confident and assertive. frankly, gorsepaw found himself admiring gullfeather already.
curious, gorsepaw lifted his nose to sniff the air. before he had the chance to descend into camp, however, twitekit's voice from above caught his attention.
"gorsepaw!" twitekit called out. the small molly's fur was fluffed out in excitement, and she bounded towards him from the path down the camp. when she met him halfway, twitekit reached up to touch her nose to him, and gorsepaw purred softly.
"good morning. shouldn't you be in the nursery with the other kits?" gorsepaw asked, though he looked up when falconflight padded into view from the path, and he dipped his head politely.
"no way," twitekit answered with a happy bounce, shifting her weight between her forepaws. "cyanslash and falconflight told sweetecho that i could play with them until redstar gives me a mentor." gorsepaw purred, having forgotten that twitekit was old enough to start her training. with a glow of pride settling in his chest, he bent his head to lick between her ears.
"congratulations! that's amazing, twitekit."
by that point, falconflight reached them and cuffed his adopted daughter's ear with a paw. "what did i tell you about annoying gullfeather and gorsepaw?" he asked, and twitekit turned to bat at falconflight's chest. the golden warrior winked mischievously at gorsepaw, who smiled in turn. "redstar gave cyanslash the duty of setting up patrols since tumblejaw hasn't been up to it." as the rumors were spreading across camp, the quickclan deputy was growing unfit for his duties and would likely be demoted. in his place, it was unclear who might be named, though redstar seemed to favor giving cyanslash or sootstone governance of patrols and upkeep of the camp. "which means that i'm stuck chasing twitekit alone."
gorsepaw looked between falconflight and twitekit, and couldn't help his own smile. "her mentor will be chasing her down across the moor for sure," he teased, flicking twitekit's ear gently only to earn a playful hiss. "can you see if gullfeather is down in the camp?" he asked when falconflight stood.
before falconflight could reply, twitekit shot up and headed for the path with a wave of her tail. "i'm on it!"
for a moment, falconflight watched her go before shrugging and sitting down once more, and gorsepaw took the cue to do the same. when twitekit was out of earshot, he looked to her father. "do you know who her mentor will be?"
falconflight paused a moment before shaking his head. "redstar told cyanslash that he wasn't sure yet. i think that redstar could have paired her with cyanslash based on their personalities, if we hadn't taken her as our own." falconflight shrugged and ran a paw over his ear. "she might also get along with splashfall, but i'd bet on snakespots, since he has seniority."
"do you think you'll get an apprentice soon?" gorsepaw asked, his gaze straying down the path to seek twitekit or gullfeather's pelts among the gathered cats.
"with all of the kits in the nursery, i think it's probable." falconflight seemed to hesitate, as if unsure how much he could or should share with gorsepaw, but shrugged and continued after a beat's silence. "i think cyanslash has his eye on one of sunnywhisker's kits. maybe cherrykit or mintkit. and other warriors are falling over themselves for piperskip's kits. they think that dustkit and oriolekit will be good fighters and grasskit could be a good hunter." he shrugged again, this time from nonchalance. "and aspenwish's kits seem quiet, but have potential, of course. if not, there are more kits on the way."
"do you think blizzardrush will take another apprentice soon?" gorsepaw asked suddenly. since he decided that he wanted to discontinue his warrior training, gorsepaw tried to avoid his former-mentor, fearing that blizzardrush would be disappointed or resent him.
however, falconflight's eyes softened just as twitekit came barreling back towards them, gullfeather several steps behind. "oh, gorsepaw, blizzardrush just wanted the best for you." when twitekit nudged his flank, her adoptive father stood and rested his tail over her shoulders. "if redstar offers him an apprentice, i'm sure he'll accept. but blizzardrush just wanted you to be happy."
with that, falconflight bid gorsepaw and gullfeather goodbye, and went to nudge his daughter back down the pah towards camp. gullfeather paused when she looked at gorsepaw, her yellow eyes unblinking. "everything alright, gorsepaw?" she asked after a long moment, and gorsepaw found himself smiling.
"yes, gullfeather. what can i do?" he asked in turn, and his mentor returned her own gentle smile. "come on, i'd like check on sweetecho and mothtail."
later that night, redstar waited until his clan was gathered together to eat their evening meal until he stood in the midst of them all. earlier, he had dared to get splashfall alone, and his close friend agreed to take twitekit as an apprentice. when redstar moved to the center of the clearing, his eyes trailed upward, to seek the nursery where his mate was resting by gullfeather's orders, and then to the darkening sky, where the first stars were beginning to shine. up there, he knew, ivystripe was sitting among their ancestors, and the thought made his chest warm.
redstar pulled himself up to his full height and looked from to sky to his clan, and his gaze landed on where twitekit was eating with cyanslash and falconflight. the mates had taken care of twitekit as if she truly was their own from the moment ivystripe brought her to camp. twitekit, who would have the honor of the first apprentice ceremony of the young quickclan, falconflight, who was a gifted hunter, and cyanslash, who served the clan as deputy while tumblejaw remained stuck in his grief. where the entire clan still felt a monumental loss, redstar couldn't think of a kit who deserved the attention of praise that twitekit would, and her fathers on her behalf. so, with a flick of his tail, redstar beckoned the young molly to follow him to the pointed rock at the edge of camp. when the clan turned to look at them and twitekit had settled at the base of stone, redstar began, "tonight we mark a new era for our clan. we will remember ivystripe always, but we can not let ourselves be held back by tragedy. ivystripe would want us to continue in her memory." he saw the grief ripple through the clan, and redstar dipped his head respectfully. "tonight, with ivystripe watching from above, we are to celebrate twitekit becoming an apprentice."
this time, the ripple that passed through the crowd was a joyous one, and redstar spotted cyanslash's sleek head peering up to catch his daughter's eye and mouth her words of encouragement. "twitekit, while you train to learn the ways of our clan to become a warrior of quickclan, you shall be known as twitepaw." redstar jumped down from his perch to stand beside the quivering apprentice. the young molly had always been popular with the clan, first because of her adoptive fathers, and then for her own spirit and tenacity. "splashfall," redstar announced, catching his old friend's eye. the lithe tabby tom seemed to hesitate, unsure, but redstar flicked his tail. "you were mentored by fleetingstar in the old quickclan, and you know this moor longer than many of us," he said, able to see the way splashfall's whiskers trembled when he finally came to a stop before his apprentice. "i trust that you will pass all of your knowledge onto twitepaw."
"of course," splashfall breathed out shakily, just loud enough for twitepaw and redstar to hear.